Pictures: Angkor Wat Part 1

If you don't know what Angkor Wat is, I did some work and looked up some history for you:

Regarded as the supreme masterpiece of Khmer architecture, [Angkor Wat] is a huge pyramid temple built by Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150. It is surrounded by a moat 570 feet wide and about four miles long. The mass of bas-relief carving is of the highest quality and the most beautifully executed in Angkor. It is also the largest religious monument in the world.

You can also check out Wikipedia's Angkor Wat entry.

View of the main temple as we walked down the long entraceway over the moat

While most of the windows had columns blocking them, we found one that didn't and took pictures from high up on Angkor Wat of the surrounding walls and temples in the complex. I know it looks hazy and damp, but it was actually at least 90 degrees out and probably 90% humidity. Since it was monsoon season, we saw very little blue sky in Cambodia (usually just in the mornings).

The stairway leading to the "beehive" towers. It was so steep that we had to climb it like a ladder.

This is me after we climbed that staircase - once I caught my breath - at the top of Angkor Wat

View of the temple from inside the walls. That isn't the moat in front, but rather a huge puddle - the result of the monsoon rains.